1. The Penang Heritage Trust has earlier expressed its concerns to Bishop Selvanayagam over the plans to exhume and relocate the graves in their historic cemetery in Penang Road. However, we feel that the public should also be informed of the important issues pertaining to the proposed exhumation.

2. As one of the oldest cemeteries dating back to the 18th century, its historic importance for the Catholic community cannot be disputed.

We feel that the Church should regard it as an invaluable historic asset rather than an obstacle to creating a children’s playground. It should be tidied up and provided with proper interpretative signage for edification of the Catholic community to highlight their role in Penang's early development. The founders of the Convent Light Street School is one such example, pointed out by the Alumni Association. In addition, such a plan will certainly cost much less than the proposed exhumation.

3. Historic cemeteries are not normally exhumed for such relatively trivial reasons even where land is very scarce and valuable eg London, Paris or Washington. In this particular case, there is so much land already owned by Catholic educational institutions in the immediate vicinity of St Joseph's orphanage, the need seems even less justified.

4. We are also concerned over the apparent carelessnes with which the registration of individual graves has been done after the Heritage Alert Group pointed out numbers of missed and misinterpreted grave stones during an inspection.

5. The PHT is also concerned about how the destruction of this historic cemetery will affect the credibility of Penang which is currently seeking recognition as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

6. While we do not doubt the good intentions of the Bishop, we nevertheless think this decision is short sighted, taken and implemented in haste without a full understanding of the importance and significance of the site against a proposal to enlarge the playground.

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STOP PRESS:  In a meeting with the descendants on 27th November, 2004, the Bishop has kindly agreed to stop the exhumation and  to work with them on ways to restore the cemetery.  The cemetery is a very important part of the heritage of the descendants of those buried there, the Catholic Church in Penang, and of Penang itself.

We appreciate the support that the Penang descendants, Catholic community and many many other people have given to this important work of heritage preservation. We look forward to further dialogue on this and other issues in the future.

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